The official deal Theo Epstein, Chris Carpenter and a Player to be Named Later for get this, a Player to be named later. So not only did the Red Sox get hosed on the prospect they also have to give up a prospect in order to make it a "baseball trade". You may be asking yourself why do the Red Sox have to give a player back to the Cubs? Because trading for a top ranking CEO is unprecedented, if you get a player from a team you have to give a player to a team. Horse shit, I realize.
There were a few things that were askew about this "trade":
- The Red Sox brass screwed this negotiation up royally. The Cubs were smitten, no, obsessed, no downright ga-ga over Theo. One of the abc's of business is supply and demand. The Red Sox had something they Cubs wanted (yearned for?) therefore they should have held Chicago by the short and curly's. They should have told Chicago, "You can have Theo, but at a cost, otherwise he is under contract and he is ours." Simple as that. Then you obtain the prospect that YOU WANT, rather than what you can get. Larry was so hell-bent on getting Theo (the only person that would challenge him in the organization) that he forgot the principals of business. Smooth move mud whistle.
- Something that I'm not understanding is why Theo is dealing with Ben Cherington. Theo is no longer a GM that's Jed Hoyer's job. Theo is, as far as titles go, the Larry Lucchino of the Chicago Cubs there is no reason that he should be dealing with a subordinate as Cherington is. He should be dealing with Lucchino, or better yet, Theo shouldn't be involved in his OWN compensation at all. The two new GMs need to get their feet wet, let them duke it out. This dynamic doesn't seem right to me on either the Chicago or Boston end. If Theo was doing the negotiating than Larry should have stepped in, but at the same time Theo should have had Jed be the point man.
- It could just be splitting hairs here, but when Ben Cherington says, "the trade was more difficult because it involved not just an executive, but a friend." I'm all about friendship, really I am, but you are running one of the top 3 most profitable baseball organizations and you can't put friendship aside to get a deal done. My ideal GM would keep both the short-term and longterm success of the ballclub in mind while also being a shark at the negotiating table. I don't' want to hear that something was difficult because there was a "friend" involved. Yet another reason Ben should not have dealt with Theo.
Here's the rundown on Carpenter:
Chris Carpenter, 26, made his Major League debut with Chicago in 2011 and posted a 2.79 ERA (3 ER/9.2 IP) over his 10 games with the Cubs, all out of the bullpen. He limited left-handed batters to a .143 average (2-for-14) and held opponents scoreless in eight of 10 outings. The right-hander also combined for 32 relief appearances between Chicago's Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa clubs last year, going 3-4 with two saves and a 5.91 ERA (28 ER/42.2 IP) between the two stops.
My synopsis: Carpenter has a power arm, can touch triple digits, he also throws a splitter and a hard slider. His ability to command the zone has been an issue as shown with his 1.966 WHIP. So he's essentially putting 2 runners on ever inning he's on the mound. Here's a video of him in the bullpen. If you watch carefully in the video, the last pitch he throws is his splitter. His front side leaks open and you can easily see the splitter left up and in. Repeating his delivery according to scouts has been one of the biggest reasons for inconsistency. If he wants to crack the Red Sox bullpen he's going to have to fine tune that issue.
Ultimately the Red Sox got more than I thought they'd get. Remember the illusions of grandeur; Theo taking on Lackey's salary, Matt Garza or Starlin Castro, and even one of the top 5 prospects (Brett Walace or Josh Vitters). Pipe dreams. But had business have been done with an iron fist rather than a feable hand the Red Sox could have come away the victor.
Stay Tuned
Norton
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